American classical cellist Lynn Harrell dies at 76

American cellist Lynn Harrell died on Monday at the age of 76, U.S. media reported quoting Harrell’s wife Helen Nightengale. A cause of death has not yet been released.

Harrell’s father was a baritone for the New York Metropolitan Opera and his mother was a violinist. The Grammy-winning cellist studied at the Julliard School with Leonard Rose. Harrell joined the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 17 and became a principal cellist two years later. He made his debut at Carnegie Hall at 19 and won the Avery Fisher Prize, which is an award given to outstanding young musicians, in 1975.

Harrell won the Grammy Awards for Best Chamber Music Performance in 1981 for his recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio with violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy. He won his second Grammy Award in 1987 for Beethoven’s Complete Piano Trios also with Perlman and Ashkenazy.

In 2010, Harrell and his wife, who is a violinist, founded the HEARTbeats Foundation to help children in need. He held several concerts in South Korea, playing Elgar Cello concerto in 2015 and Dvorak Cello Concerto in 2017 with the Seoul Philharmonic and conductor Eliahu Inbal. Harrell taught at prestigious music schools, including the Royal Academy London, the Juilliard School, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.


gustav@donga.com